Page 78 of Bane of the Wild Hunt

I knew she was right, butfuck, it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I wanted to rage. I wanted to hit something. Too many times I almost reached for the tether between us to force him to deal with me but could not bring myself to abuse our bond that way.

I knew I needed to sort myself out before I truly lost my temper. So I went through the door into his private gymnasium where he kept his armour and weapons. All of his things had been moved from his apartment in Ergastiri to the Metropolis when the Summer dryad announced his imminent return. That included all of his personal training gear which he used when he needed to blow off steam privately rather than going to the Pit. I had often gone to his apartment to be alone in his space when missing him had hurt so bad that it made me unbearable for others.

I picked up the wooden practice sword that had been worn by his hand rather than the one that I had most often used to spar with him. My fingers clenched over the wood and leather for a moment, as if I could feel his hand there in mine, and then I whirled into action. Channelling all my rage and heartache into every strike and kick to the practice dummy. Tears burned in my eyes, but I would not let them fall as I released all my pent-up emotion.

I lost track of the time before I felt a familiar prickle of awareness that made my heart jolt. I turned my head to see Riordan leaning against the doorway watching me.

“Ready to speak to me?” I asked him once I had gotten myself under a little better control.

“It depends whether you are ready to remember your vows to treat me with respect,” he responded evenly.

“Riordan—” I began in protest.

“I do not know what troubles you, Orion, and I cannot force you to be honest with me. I would help you work through whatever is bothering you if I can, but you cannot punish me for what is wrong while still refusing to share. So if you insist on keeping your secret, you are entitled to do that, but you will not take out your anger on me or Amira anymore. Not until such time that you are ready to fully share the burden with us so we might support you. Are we clear on that?” Riordan demanded.

I wanted desperately to object, but I knew deep down that he was right to set these limits with me. So I nodded, and Riordan straightened away from the doorway to walk into the room. I watched him raptly, helplessly glued to his every graceful move.

He saw that I was using his practice sword and a small smile lifted at the corner of his mouth before he picked up the one I usually used. He did not give me a second more to prepare before he had moved into an offensive position and began to swing for me.

I parried him instinctively, eyes widening in surprise, but he was already moving again. A fluid and graceful explosion of movement that was deeply familiar.

“You are out of shape!” I taunted with a laugh after a few moments of going back and forth.

“I am very aware!” he huffed at me with clear distaste, still favouring his left side where I’d managed to hit him. The scent of his sweat and adrenaline tickled my senses as we sprang back and forth, whirling, and blocking, and evading one another in perfect harmony. It was as if we were dancing to the same tune or there were invisible leads between us keeping us in perfect sync.

This was what I’d been missing in my soul. This sense of oneness with him that was so terribly bittersweet in the wake of our quarrel.

He got winded much faster than usual, but I had also been practicing for hours, so we tired of the duel at the same time and tossed our swords back into the bin.

Riordan clasped my shoulder as I turned and slid his arm around the back of my neck with a familiarity I knew he did not feel with anyone else. As an Imítheos, he was generally impartial to touching others, but I had always been the exception until he’d met the witch.

I had always foolishly hoped that his comfort with me had signalled his attraction. So despite the improbability, I’d held onto a strangled hope that Riordan might broach the subject of intimacy before he found a female mate. Every time he touched me, every time he curled up and fell asleep with me after battle rather than returning to his own bed, that fragile hope had blossomed more.

But he’d never taken it further, and now my dreams of having him all to myself were trampled.

Most Imítheos seemed to feel a heightened connection to theirskiábefore they were mated, and after a female completed their trio, the males often became lovers too. But when Riordan admitted that he would have wanted to form such a trio with me, I had no idea what he actually expected out of such a dynamic. His people were often so prudish that they simply did not talk about these things. And he did not haveadéneswith which to sense the way the relationship dynamics shifted between otherskiáafter they were mated. So there was no way to know if he even knew that it could be like that between us, and if he did, then it would not be withouther.

Even if I were willing to try sharing him, and even if she were prepared to reconsider me, taking her as a lover would be impossible for me. Not when it had been hundreds of years since I left my mother’s brothel behind, and Istillcould not stomach the mere thought of a female lover. I simply did not see a future in which I could have an intimate part in Riordan’s life anymore.

“I restructured our defenses,” Riordan informed me as we walked back into his main bedchamber.

“You already did it?” I gaped.

“I have been working on it all afternoon,” he admitted before his expression sobered a little. “Amira will join us for the meeting with the oligarchs tomorrow.”

“Why?” I blurted before I could temper the reaction.

“Because she is to be my mate, and I want her to be a part of my leadership,” he answered calmly.

“You said that you would give them the opportunity to question her for your mate. Are you sure that’s something you wish for her to be present for?” I asked, trying to be logical in my reasoning.

“She knows and is prepared to be there. It is only right that she is given the opportunity to defend herself.”

Meaning he was going to insist they all speak Gaelic for the witch to understand. I already knew how well that was going to go over with most of the council members, but I merely nodded in understanding.

“After the meeting, you can look over my proposal for the restructure if you want. It is something we will need to do slowly or risk too much chaos. But there will be no more holes in our defenses. No more fey lost,” he said.

“Did the scouting party locate the Fuath that attacked the Oighear Pixies?” I asked.

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